Harris' 1st Birthday!

My baby boy, Harris turned 1 today! I just don't know where the past year has gone - it seems like the blink of an eye.

Such a bitter sweet day - no more mummy milk for him - I made exclusive bf until 10.5 months when I swapped his pm feed to formula while feeding am and night. Then when I went back to work at 11.5 months I swapped the night feed for formula so Al could feed him at bed time while I was at work and today at 1 year I stopped the mummy milk bar. I say I stopped, but It has been fairly obvious that the past few days were not cutting it as he was a v v hungry boy not long after! I'm v proud of myself. I find bf hard work and I never felt entirely comfortable with public feeding even though I just got on with it. I love the cuddles in my home especially when Murray was being entertained and I love that it has cost me next to nothing and that he's had great nutrition for his 1st year. It has helped me feel better about having to swap Murray at 3 months as feeding Harris is how feeding should be - hard work/time consuming but loving and pain free and has helped me to understand that feeding Murray was the polar opposite - excruciatingly painful and even more exhausting due to sheer amount that would be thrown back up. I gave myself such a hard time about it with Murray and it has been nice to have the comparison. I'm v much pro bf if it is for you, but am a strong believer that if it is not, then that is absolutely OK and that no guilt/ pressure should be put on you. Most mothers do that quite well enough for themselves thank you v much! My cuddles with Murray at bottle time were so beautiful in comparison to the flesh tearing struggles my poor in pain boy and I had.

Harris has a nice bed time routine now - lullaby music while he has his milk and a cuddle and then lie down, music off and off he drops. I've been using the music to help relaxation at nap times too and (touch wood) it seems to be helping. He even went back down at 4am the other day courtesy of the music - hoorah! Fingers crossed it helps in the night if needed again!

It's been such a lovely day - Harris slept to 6am and Murray to 7.15am! Late, late, late in our household! When Murray woke up he immediately sang 'Happy Birthday' to Harris! Too cute. We opened a few presents including Murray's to Harris and Harris' toy to Murray for being such a lovely big bro'!
After breaky we went swimming in Perth with my folks and my sister and my nephew. It was great fun. All the boys loved it as did my folks. Dad then treated us all to lunch before we all headed off as the kids were shattered from their swim!
When we got home we went straight over to the Bird House Bakery in the village for coffee and cake (kids were too tired to stay any longer at lunch) which was really lovely.
When we got home we opened the rest of our presents to Harris and from friends which was great fun for Murray LOL!
We will do the rest of family on Saturday which is quite nice as it can be a bit much to do in 1 go.
Tomorrow Al's folks arrive and then on Saturday we (Al's folks; my folks; my sis, bro in law and baby Benjamin and our crew) are all going to Auchingarrich animal park for a play, lunch and a bit more play before heading home for coffee, cake and presents. I've done a buffet lunch for Murray's 1st/2nd birthdays and boys' Baptisms and I must say I'm looking fwd to a meal being put in front of me rather than the other way around!

Here are some lovely little pics to make you smile:

Mummy and Harris snuggled on the postnatal ward

Family Nicholl

Harris hours old

Harris 1 Year Old Playing his Piano and Feeling V Pleased with Himself!

Murray's First Running Race and Back to work and 11.5months!

Murray did his first running race today. He was a wee star. It was 800m (0.5 mile) and he ran pretty much the whole way. He was flagging a little bit towards the end, but I reminded him of the wee bag of sweeties he'd get and his pace fair pick up again. I was sooo proud of him because he wasn't sure about doing it and was saying no at first, but Al explained he would get to go through the finish gantry and that seemed to tip the balance to giving it a go. Harris joined in too, albeit in the buggy! It was 2 laps too and I think he did amazingly well to go round again even though he was tired.

Here he is with his certificate:

Murray is so fun and funny at the mo'. He loves to sing ALL the time and he makes me laugh as he changes the lyrics and makes them fit into the song. Here is a prime example:

Bob the Builder,
Can he fix it,
Bob the Builder,
No he can't, coz he's lost his tools!

Too funny!

Back to Work I Go!

I started back to work on Monday. I am working for Fiona at Kip McGrath, Stirling which is a tutoring centre like I owned, but closer to home and it is nice to be teaching without the responsibility of staff and payroll etc.
Wow, I forgot what a juggle it is to get ready and get out the door to work all while leaving snacks, nap times and meals for parents/hubby to do and all with a toddler chewing your ear off and a baby crawling everywhere, plling out things from your work bag etc! I also forgot how hard it is at work after a rough night, but was v quickly re- introduced to this as Harris was up between 3 and 5.30 teething on Monday!
At the mo' I'm covering a tutor who is on hol and then covering Fiona herself while she is away, but come Mid Nov, I will have a regular Thursday and build up a regular Tuesday. This means Murray can go to Preschool Mon, Wed, Fri and I can spend time with him on Tues/Thursday am before heading to work in the afternoon.
It is nice to use my brain in a different way and maintain my professional skills. I am shattered now though. Somewhere I need to squeeze in some study for my massage -prb shouldn't be blogging - although I did get an hour done this am while H napped and M was at Preschool!

11.5 Months

Harris is 11.5 months and pulling up to standing and can now get back down again, although that took a few days to master, complete with yelps of frustration! He's so sweet crawling about and standing at his wee piano and dancing to the beat!

A lovely family pic: